Written Answers Tuesday 11 March 2008

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people were admitted to the Borders General Hospital for treatment for alcohol misuse in (a) 2007-08, (b) 2006-07, (c) 2005-06, (d) 2004-05 and (e) 2003-04.

Shona Robison: : The numbers of young people (under 15 years of age) discharged from Borders General Hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis in 2003-04 to 2006-07 is given in Table 1. Information for 2007-08 is not yet available.

  Table 1: Borders General Hospital: Number of Patients Under 15 Years Discharged with an Alcohol-Related Diagnosis, Financial Years 2003-04 to 2006-07.

  

Year
Patients Under 15 Discharged


2003-04
23


2004-05
14


2005-06
17


2006-07
16

Autism

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many adults with autism have been identified since 1999.

Shona Robison: People with autism spectrum disorder are most likely to be diagnosed in an outpatient clinic and managed in the community or general practice. Diagnostic information for patients attending outpatient clinics is not available centrally.

Autism

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it has taken to support adults with autism.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government works collaboratively with voluntary sector organisations, local authorities, services users and carers to develop and inform appropriate and responsive services for people with autism spectrum disorders.

  In April, the Scottish Government will issue guidance to local agencies on commissioning services which are appropriate and accessible for people on the autism spectrum.

Autism

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is provided for local authority staff in assessing adults with autism.

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is provided for local authority staff in supporting adults with autism.

Shona Robison: Workforce development underpins the national objective, agreed by Scottish Government and COSLA, of ensuring that public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to people’s needs.

  Codes of practice developed by the Scottish Social Services Council for all social service staff and employers and national care standards require that staff have the necessary skills to undertake the roles for which they are employed and to meet the needs of the people they support. As commissioners of social services, local authorities need to work in partnership with employers across the social service sector and training providers to ensure that provision is made for training.

  The Scottish Social Services Council has developed two new professional development awards specifically for people working with individuals on the autism spectrum. Staff can choose between a Certificate in Supporting Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (SCQF Level 7) or a Certificate in Managing the Support of Individuals with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (SCQF Level 8).

Autism

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is provided for health service staff in assessing adults with autism.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of ensuring that health professionals receive appropriate guidance regarding the detection, diagnosis and treatment of all conditions, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

  The Scottish Government has funded the evaluation of a number of pilots in diagnostic training to identify the most appropriate diagnostic tools for use across Scotland and enable more people to be diagnosed before referral to tertiary services. The aim of the training is to reduce waiting times for diagnosis for families where an individual may have an ASD and to get consistency in the diagnostic tools used in Scotland.

  A quality standard for ASD diagnostic services issued in 2005 offers people with ASD and family carers a clear indication of what can be expected from diagnosis and assessment services. It also provides a checklist for multi-disciplinary teams providing the service.

Autism

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what training is provided for health service staff in supporting adults with autism.

Shona Robison: NHS Education Scotland have developed and launched a web-based learning resource, designed for any health professional working in primary care, including GPs, nurses and allied health professionals. This resource aims to increase the understanding of key primary care practitioners of the needs of people with autism spectrum disorder when receiving patient care. This learning resource is also being accessed by dentists and other practitioners outwith primary care.

  I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10520 on 11 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Autism

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used in assessing whether an adult with autism is in need of additional support.

Shona Robison: The provision of additional support is based on individual assessments and is a matter for local authorities and their health partners.

Autism

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce measures for local authorities to accurately record how many adults with autism live in the local authority area.

Cathie Craigie (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to introduce measures for NHS boards to accurately record how many adults with autism live in the board area.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government will shortly issue guidance to local authorities and health boards on commissioning services which are appropriate and accessible for people on the autism spectrum. The guidance recommends local authorities and health boards work in partnership to build on the 2003 audit of local needs and identify service gaps.

  The Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability has already done a considerable amount of work, through the e-SAY project, to develop national data standards for people with learning disabilities and people with autism spectrum disorder. Over the next year, the project will continue to work with health and social work partners to roll out the collection of information across Scotland.

Blood Transfusion Service

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who is prevented from donating blood; what the scientific justification is for each category of person prevented from donating blood, and what plans it has to reconsider who can and who cannot donate blood.

Shona Robison: People prevented from donating blood can be placed broadly in two categories:

  (1.) Those whose medical history, travel history, or behaviours put them at risk of passing on transfusion transmissible infections and

  (2.) Those whose medical history suggests that giving blood could place them at risk of the adverse affects of donation.

  Full details of the current UK donor selection guidelines, with explanatory notes, can be found at: www.transfusionguidelines.org.

  The guidelines are reviewed on a regular basis at UK level through the Advisory Committee for the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs and the Joint Professional Advisory Committee for the four UK transfusion services, based on the latest epidemiological information from the Health Protection Agency, Health Protection Scotland and other experts in this field.

Central Heating Programme

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many installations were carried out under the central heating programme in each (a) year and (b) month since the introduction of the programme in (i) the South Lanarkshire local authority area, (ii) the North Ayrshire local authority area and (iii) each Scottish parliamentary constituency in the South of Scotland region.

Stewart Maxwell: The fuel poverty programmes have included the provision of central heating in both the public and private sectors. In the public sector, local authorities completed installations in their properties in March 2004 and housing associations completed installations in their properties in December 2004, except Glasgow Housing Association properties where, due to the high number of properties involved, the programme was completed in March 2007. In the private sector, installations have been carried out by the managing agent.

  The number of systems installed in the public sector from the start of the programme in 2001 until the programme ended in December 2004 are held as annual installation figures. The number of systems installed in each financial year over the period requested in North Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire council areas, is shown in the table:

  

Local Authority Area
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-0
Total


North Ayrshire
0
0
0
0
0


South Lanarkshire
863
802
1,998
0
3,663



  Notes:

  1. The figures include installations carried out by local authority and housing associations in each of the local authority areas indicated.

  2. The figures do not include installations carried out in the private sector.

  In the private sector, information is not held by local authority or parliamentary constituency area, but by main postcode. The monthly installation rate, covering the period October 2006 until January 2008 for the main postcode areas across the South of Scotland Region (DG, KA, ML and TD) is shown in the table:

  

 
DG
KA
ML
TD
Total


October 2006
0*
2*
7*
1*
10*


November 2006
0*
2*
7*
0*
9*


December 2006
0*
3*
6*
0*
9*


January 2007
28*
130*
159*
10*
327*


February 2007
28*
129*
159*
10*
326*


March 2007
28*
129*
159*
11*
327*


April 2007
4
108
106
10
228


May 2007
4
109
107
10
230


June 2007
53
90
80
16
239


July 2007
23
63
126
10
222


August 2007
37
80
136
17
270


September 2007
33
65
125
14
237


October 2007
33
168
52
8
261


November 2007
56
99
65
24
244


December 2007
39
31
61
20
151


January 2008
44
110
122
18
294



  Note: The figures are marked with an asterisk where the current managing agent (Scottish Gas) has provided figures on a three-monthly rather than a monthly basis, during the start up period covering its involvement on the programme. The figures given are the monthly average for the relevant three-month period.

  Before October 2006 information on installations in the private sector are held only as annual installation figures. The total number of systems installed in the private sector in each financial year over the period requested for main postcode areas DG, KA, ML and TD is shown in the table:

  

Main Postcode Area
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
Total


DG
70
160
416
599
586
251
2,082


KA
230
240
459
808
1,100
407
3,244


ML
83
167
392
712
1,007
386
2,747


TD
19
69
245
427
286
152
1,198

Children in Care

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many looked-after children used Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the most recent year for which figures are available, broken down by NHS board.

Shona Robison: This dataset is not currently collected centrally. The content and range of data collection for looked-after children are kept under ongoing review. No final decisions have been reached on changes to be made for the immediate future.

  The Mental Health of Children and Young People: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care (Bib number 38415) clearly recognises the multi-agency planning and commissioning required by NHS boards and their partners in local authorities and education to ensure appropriate early intervention and access to services to address the emotional and mental health needs of this vulnerable group. We continue to work with NHS boards and their partners to deliver on this important agenda.

  Specifically, we have a commitment to providing mental health training for those working with or caring for looked after and accommodated children. This will allow them to recognise at an early stage mental health problems and facilitate earlier access to CAMHS services. A training pack has been produced and rolled out to 617 workers to date by 38 trainers. We are currently mapping the workers with the aim of ensuring the training remains accessible.

Children with Disabilities

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children and young people require moving and handling assistance.

Adam Ingram: This information is not held centrally.

Children with Disabilities

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to encourage and support good moving and handling practice for children and young people with disabilities.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government is developing a coherent approach to the encouragement and support of good moving and handling practice for children and young people with disabilities. This approach will cover practice in health, education, social work and other relevant sectors and take stock of the recommendations in the Scottish Commissioner for Children and Young People’s report Handle with Care .

Children with Disabilities

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to ensure that children and young people with disabilities and their parents are involved in decisions about their care.

Adam Ingram: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting and involving children and young people with disabilities and their parents in decisions about their care. We are currently engaging at strategic level with the "For Scotland’s Disabled Children" coalition on relevant issues, as well as taking forward a range of practical measures such as national guidance on self-directed support which emphasises the involvement by children and young people in assessments and decisions about their care.

Children with Disabilities

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to ensure that children and young people with disabilities have access to leisure and recreational opportunities.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government, through sportscotland, is committed to providing opportunities for people with disabilities to take part in sport at all levels, and invests in disability sport in a number of ways through a range of key partners including local authorities.

  As the main providers of leisure and recreational activities, it is for local authorities to plan and deliver a range of opportunities. Sportscotland is helping to break down barriers in their ground breaking Active Schools programme by providing training opportunities through a new disability inclusion module. This training module has been designed to provide participants with the skills they need to ensure children and young people with a disability can enjoy the benefits of a range of sporting and physical activities. This training will roll-out across the whole of the active schools network operated by local authorities over the next two years.

Council Tax

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to consult on its proposals to abolish the council tax.

John Swinney: I will publish a consultation document on this issue later today. Copies will be available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44281) and can be viewed at the abolition of council tax consultation website www.scotland.gov.uk/afairertax .

  This consultation will last for a period of four months in order to give all parties an extended opportunity to comment on this significant change to the taxation system of Scotland. I look forward to working constructively with the Parliament on our proposals to make local taxation fairer.

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dentistry students at the University of Dundee applied for and received a dental bursary in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08.

Shona Robison: In 2006-07, 214 students at the University of Dundee applied for and received a dental bursary. In 2007-08 (to date), 219 students at the University of Dundee applied for and received a dental bursary.

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on dental bursaries in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08.

Shona Robison: In 2006-07 the total cost of the dental bursary was £1,788,000. To date, in 2007-08, the total cost of the dental bursary is £1,888,000.

Dentistry

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many dental students at (a) the University of Dundee and (b) the University of Glasgow are currently in receipt of dental bursaries for up to (i) one, (ii) two, (iii) three and (iv) four years.

Shona Robison: This information is not available as a student is required to apply for the bursary in each of the four years that the bursary is available.

Domestic Abuse

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority received from the Violence Against Women Fund in each year of the 2004 spending review.

Stewart Maxwell: The Violence Against Women Fund was introduced in 2006. Details of the funding to local authorities which successfully applied under the Fund for the period 2006-08 are set out in the table.

  

 
2006-07
2007-08


£000
£000


Aberdeenshire
50,000
50,000


Dumfries and Galloway
50,000
50,000


Dundee City
50,000
50,000


East Dunbartonshire
50,000
50,000


East Renfrewshire
39,989
39,989


Edinburgh, City of
149,377
149,377


Eilean Siar
21,100
29,224


Falkirk
31,649
28,256


Fife
48,607
49,378


Glasgow City
89,469
90,429


Inverclyde
48,384
49,867


Moray
10,329
12,060


North Ayrshire
35,000
35,000


North Lanarkshire
24,703
39,828


Renfrewshire
76,453
94,954


Scottish Borders
42,000
42,000


South Ayrshire
31,250
31,250


South Lanarkshire
45,971
49,471


Stirling
99,000
100,000


West Dunbartonshire
48,397
48,525


West Lothian
49,908
42,958


Scotland
1,091,586
1,132,568



  Prior to the Violence Against Women Fund there was the Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund and the Violence Against women Service Development Fund. Details of the funding to local authorities which successfully applied under these funds for the financial year 2005-06 are set out in the table.

  

Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund
2005-06


Aberdeen City Council
44,610


Aberdeenshire Council 
50,000


Angus Council
78,610


Argyll and Bute Council 
59,800


City of Edinburgh Council
308,821


Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
15,000


Dumfries and Galloway Council
50,000


East Ayrshire Council
6,300


East Dunbartonshire Council
50,000


East Lothian Council
26,175


East Renfrewshire Council 
37,000


Falkirk Council
0


Fife Council
117,106


Glasgow City Council
87,468


Highland Council
50,000


Inverclyde Council
46,800


Midlothian Council
27,470


Moray Council
34,000


North Ayrshire Council
19,000


North Lanarkshire Council
30,766


Orkney Islands Council
15,464


Perth and Kinross Council
20,227


Renfrewshire Council
38,000


South Ayrshire Council
50,000


Stirling Council
176,526


West Dunbartonshire Council 
38,480


West Lothian Council
13,208


Dundee City Council
29,865


 
1,520,696



  

Violence Against Women Service Development Fund
 


Argyll and Bute Council 
17,415


City of Edinburgh Council - Housing Department
50,000


Dumfries and Galloway Council 
18,500


Glasgow City Council 
50,000


Falkirk Council
99,731


Renfrewshire Social Work Dept
38,113


 
273,759

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning on 30 January 2008 that "we want to ensure that Scottish history is taught in our schools, but it is not just history teachers who can teach it" ( Official Report , c. 5622), whether her remarks refer only to primary schools.

Maureen Watt: Teachers should have the appropriate professional skills and knowledge necessary to enable them to undertake the teaching duties allocated to them and this is reflected in the current Regulations.

  Subject expertise is a strength of the Scottish Education system. Teachers with a sound knowledge of their subject provide exciting, engaging and relevant experiences for young people. Curriculum for Excellence will also require all teachers and other staff to make connections between areas of learning, including through interdisciplinary studies so that young people are taught with a broad understanding of the curriculum as a whole and can see the links between and the relevance of different aspects of learning. This means that the subject of history will continue to be taught by qualified teachers and that in addition to this for example, the history of Scottish science could also be taught in science.

Education

Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the comments of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning on 30 January 2008 that "we want to ensure that Scottish history is taught in our schools, but it is not just history teachers who can teach it" ( Official Report , c. 5622), whether she believes that only qualified teachers of history should teach history in high schools.

Maureen Watt: Teachers should have the appropriate professional skills and knowledge necessary to enable them to undertake the teaching duties allocated to them and this is reflected in the current Regulations.

  Subject expertise is a strength of the Scottish Education system. Teachers with a sound knowledge of their subject provide exciting, engaging and relevant experiences for young people. Curriculum for Excellence will also require all teachers and other staff to make connections between areas of learning, including through interdisciplinary studies so that young people are taught with a broad understanding of the curriculum as a whole and can see the links between and the relevance of different aspects of learning. This means that the subject of history will continue to be taught by qualified history teachers and that in addition to this for example, the history of Scottish science could also be taught in science.

Education

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many lay members there are of school inspection teams.

Maureen Watt: HM Inspectorate of Education retains the services of 107 lay members who are deployed within its inspection teams. Only one lay member is involved in any school inspection team. However, where a new lay member is on induction, they will shadow an experienced lay member. As a result, a few inspections will have two lay members.

Education

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many lay members of school inspection teams are in full-time employment.

Maureen Watt: HM Inspectorate of Education does not retain information on the number of lay members who are currently involved in full-time employment. This information does not have any bearing on their role as lay members during the inspection process.

Education

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many lay members of school inspection teams are retired.

Maureen Watt: HM Inspectorate of Education does not retain information on the number of lay members who are now retired. This information does not have any bearing on their role as lay members during the inspection process.

Health

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans there are to implement health programmes for morbidly obese patients.

Shona Robison: This is a matter for individual health boards.

  Both the NICE and the SIGN obesity guidelines provide advice for health boards to assess the suitability of interventions. The Scottish Government will publish further guidance to assist health boards in the preparation of local strategies for the provision of services and treatment and referral pathways for patients with unhealthy weight by the end of 2008.

  The Scottish Government will publish an obesity action plan in spring 2008 providing further details of the initiatives to be supported by the investment from the recent spending review. The guidance to assist health boards will be amongst these initiatives. The action plan will build on, not replace, the continued delivery of the Diet Action Plan and Physical Activity Strategy.

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are estimated to suffer from incontinence.

Shona Robison: Estimates of the prevalence of urinary incontinence vary widely due to differences in definition. The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network estimated that between 210,000 and 335,000 adults in Scotland have significant problems with urinary continence (5-9% of the adult population).

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people suffer from incontinence, broken down by (a) gender, (b) age and (c) geographical location.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally.

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it places on making information available to people suffering from incontinence.

Shona Robison: High quality patient information is a key component of good clinical care. The Better Health, Better Care Action Plan includes a commitment to introduce a National Health Information and Support Service, which will provide a single shared health information online resource; a national health information helpline, and a network of health information support centres by April 2009.

Health

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines it issues to medical professionals regarding good practice in the treatment of incontinence.

Shona Robison: A clinical guideline has been published by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network - Management of Urinary Incontinence in Primary Care (SIGN 79). NHS Quality Improvement Scotland has published a best practice statement on Continence: adults with urinary dysfunction .

Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to record figures on deep vein thrombosis.

Shona Robison: The Information Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland routinely collects information on deep vein thrombosis, provided the condition is recorded when a patient comes into contact with the NHS.

Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are any plans to review and change assessment guidelines for deep vein thrombosis.

Shona Robison: SIGN is reviewing its guideline 62 on prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism, and will use the opportunity to incorporate recommendations on the diagnosis and management of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. The first meeting of the guideline development group is due to take place later this month, with consultation on the draft guideline expected during 2009.

Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in light of estimations that 1 in 20 people carry the thrombophilia gene and that around 3,000 people die of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in Scotland each year, there are any plans to increase the level of information available to doctors and patients on the risks of DVT.

Shona Robison: As an interim measure until the revised SIGN guideline is available, the Chief Medical Officer and the Chairman of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland have written to NHS boards asking them to ensure that consistent and accessible patient information on the prevention and management of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is available. Boards have therefore been asked to use the standard patient information leaflets provided with the letter.

  We have also commissioned Lifeblood, the thrombosis charity, to develop a general information leaflet on DVT. We expect GPs to make people aware of this leaflet and to display it so that it is available to the general public.

Health

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were admitted to hospital because of an adverse reaction to drugs in (a) NHS Borders and (b) NHS Lothian in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2006-07, (iii) 2005-06, (iv) 2004-05 and (v) 2003-04.

Shona Robison: The information for the years 2003-04 to 2006-07 is shown in the following table. Complete information for the financial year 2007-08 is not currently available.

  The data show the number of patients* with a diagnosis of "drugs, medicaments and biological substances causing adverse effects in therapeutic use".

  

Health Board
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07


Borders
47
53
90
76


Lothian
1,343
1,441
1,448
1,440



  Note: *Individual patients are counted once within year but may be counted more than once across years.

  These statistics are derived from data collected on patient discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland, SMR01 records are generated for each in-patient or day case episode occurring at general, acute (non-obstetric and non-psychiatric) hospitals.

  Adverse reaction to drugs is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD10) codes; Y40 to Y59, T882, T886 and T887.

  Up to six diagnoses (one primary, five secondary) are recorded on SMR01 returns. All six diagnoses were used to select for T882, T886 and T887. The five secondary diagnoses were used to select for Y40 to Y59 (external causes), the primary diagnosis being the actual condition.

  It should be noted that within ICD10, it is possible to record information on adverse effects that may not necessarily be as a result of medicaments. For example, ICD10 code T78 can be used to record "adverse effects, NEC". This will include patients who have had an adverse reaction to a food substance. Therefore codes that do not specifically make mention to "medicaments" have been excluded.

  This data has been provided by NHS National Services Scotland.

Mental Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the publication of Health and Community Care Research Findings No. 60/2008 , what steps it is taking to train NHS therapists in cognitive behaviour therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is committed to improvement in mental health services. As part of that on-going attention we have published a commitment to work with NHS Education for Scotland to extend access to and provision of evidence based psychological therapies by 2010.

  Work to support this commitment includes a range of initiatives and interventions designed towards earlier intervention and better care management of mental health problems. These include: advancing a programme to improve training for a range of staff in cognitive behaviour therapy; publishing an Integrated Care Pathway for depression; rolling out a Self Help Treatment Access Resource Team (START) to support the delivery of training by using an evidence based programme for low mood and anxiety; establishing a pilot for a telephone advice line "NHS Living Life".

Mental Health

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prescriptions were made for antidepressant medicine in the (a) NHS Borders and (b) NHS Lothian areas in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Shona Robison: The information is given in the table. This data refers to prescribed items for antidepressants dispensed by community pharmacists and dispensing doctors in 2006-07. This data does not take into account antidepressants dispensed by hospitals or hospital-based clinics, or on private prescription.

  

NHS Board
Number of Prescribed Items


Borders
85,096


Lothian
447,528



  The information in the table has been provided by NHS National Services Scotland.

Ministerial Cars

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many trips by (a) official ministerial car, (b) private hire car, (c) taxi and (d) train the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing took from May 2007 to January 2008.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many trips by (a) official ministerial car, (b) private hire car, (c) taxi and (d) train the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing took from October 2007 to January 2008.

John Swinney: The information requested is listed below.

  

Official Ministerial Car
559


Private Hire Car
13


Taxi
5


Train
0

Ministerial Cars

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many trips by (a) official ministerial car, (b) private hire car, (c) taxi and (d) train the First Minister took from May 2007 to January 2008.

John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available.

Ministerial Cars

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many trips by (a) official ministerial car, (b) private hire car, (c) taxi and (d) train the First Minister took from October 2007 to January 2008.

John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available.

Ministerial Costs

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the hospitality budget has been for the First Minister’s private office in each year since 1999.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much the First Minister’s private office has spent on hospitality since May 2007.

John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available.

Ministerial Meetings

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any ministers have met representatives of Babcocks and, if so, when the meetings were, who was present and what was discussed in each instance.

John Swinney: No meetings have taken place.

Ministerial Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

John Swinney: I have had five overnight hotel stays since May 2007 at a total cost of £626.98.

Ministerial Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

John Swinney: The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has had one overnight hotel stay since May 2007 at a total cost of £73.

Ministerial Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the First Minister since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Minister for Parliamentary Business since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available.

Ministerial Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

John Swinney: The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change had three overnight hotel stays since May 2007 at a total cost of £271.

Ministerial Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

John Swinney: The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment had 14 overnight hotel stays since May 2007 at a total cost of £1,658.67.

Ministerial Travel

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice since May 2007 and what the total cost of those stays was.

John Swinney: The Cabinet Secretary for Justice has had one overnight hotel stay since May 2007 at a total cost of £155.

Prescriptions

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all women and children suffering from total hair loss will benefit from staged reductions in prescription charges for real hair wigs and when it will announce the new charges for such prescriptions.

Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-10461 on 7 March 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Public Private Partnerships

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many PFI projects have commenced since May 2007, broken down by (a) name and (b) location of project.

John Swinney: The "standard form" of PFI developed across the UK has not been used in Scotland for any projects which have commenced from May 2007 onwards. Whilst the Scottish Futures Trust is being developed we are now using as a preference, the non-profit distributing (NPD) model of PPP. Since May 2007, only one NPD project has commenced, the Tayside mental health development in Perth.

Schools

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-5301 by Maureen Watt on 8 November 2007, whether it has changed its advice on the interpretation and use of the 60% occupancy figure which was referred to in the Accounts Commission’s 1995 report, Room for Learning – Managing Surplus Capacity in School Buildings .

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government has never endorsed use of this specific figure as a trigger for consideration of a school’s future and notes the statement by the Chair of the Accounts Commission in a letter dated 24 January 2007 to the then Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Education Committee that "at no time has the Accounts Commission or Audit Scotland said that occupancy levels alone should determine what councils do (in relation to a school’s future) or that an occupancy level of below 60% should automatically trigger a school’s closure." A copy of the letter is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 44922).

Scottish Futures Trust

Claire Baker (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the Scottish Futures Trust is legally competent within the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

John Swinney: In taking the Scottish Futures Trust forward we will take the appropriate professional advice. We have every intention of introducing a body that is legally competent.

Special Advisers

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many overnight stays in hotels have been charged for by special advisers since May 2007.

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail all expenses claims made by special advisers since May 2007.

John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available.

Suicide

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the publication of Health and Community Care Research Findings No. 60/2008, what practical steps it proposes to take to improve suicide prevention measures.

Shona Robison: The research on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent suicide and suicidal behaviour was commissioned by the Scottish Government.

  The Scottish Government is currently considering this research’s recommendations for future research and practice, in line with of our continuing commitment to base suicide prevention and interventions on the best evidence base.

  Choose Life is Scotland’s national suicide prevention strategy and action plan and suicide prevention is a cornerstone of the Scottish Government’s action on population mental health improvement. The Choose Life national implementation support team will lead on acting on these research findings to improve suicide prevention measures, linking with national and local partners. The research’s findings were distributed directly through local Choose Life co-ordinators and suicide prevention trainer networks, as well as being promoted through the Choose Life newsletter network and website.

  Our 2008-09 HEAT targets include a target to reduce suicide rates between 2002 and 2013 by 20%, supported by 50% of key frontline staff in mental health and substance misuse services, primary care, and accident and emergency being educated and trained in using suicide assessment tools/suicide prevention training programmes by 2010.

  We are also focusing on building local capacity in suicide prevention, in response to local needs and underpinned by a focus on tackling inequalities.

Suicide

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the publication of Health and Community Care Research Findings No. 60/2008, whether it intends to commission research into the usefulness of "green cards" in the prevention of suicide among individuals who are known to practice self-harm.

Shona Robison: The research on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent suicide and suicidal behaviour was commissioned by the Scottish Government.

  The Scottish Government is currently considering this research’s recommendations for future research and practice, in line with of our continuing commitment to base suicide prevention and interventions on the best evidence base. A decision on commissioning specific research into the usefulness of green cards in the prevention of suicide among individuals who are known to practice self-harm will follow from this process.

  Choose Life is Scotland’s national suicide prevention strategy and action plan, and suicide prevention is a cornerstone of the Scottish Government’s action on population mental health improvement. Choose Life will lead on acting on these research findings to improve suicide prevention measures, linking with national and local partners.

  A variety of similar cards are already used in community settings by a range of statutory and voluntary partners in the context of suicide prevention, and several are promoted as part of Choose Life website resource database. All of these suicide prevention resources are also already evaluated at local level and their effectiveness is reported through Choose Life’s local action planning mechanism.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Information Technology

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many parliamentary account users reported problems to the IT Helpdesk while logging on remotely from home or constituency office via the citrix log-on service from (a) 1 January to 29 February 2008 and (b) 1 January to 28 February 2007.

  (S3W-10644

Alex Johnstone: During the period 1 January to 29 February 2008, 185 parliamentary IT account users contacted the IT Helpdesk regarding the remote access service. During the period 1 January 2007 to 28 February 2007, 213 parliamentary IT account users contacted the Helpdesk regarding the remote access service.

Information Technology

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many IT incidents have been recorded where parliamentary account users have been unable to log on remotely from home or constituency offices due to problems associated with lack of capacity on parliamentary servers.

Alex Johnstone: This information is currently being collated and I will reply as soon as it is available.

Information Technology

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether the rate of reported IT problems by parliamentary account users has increased or decreased since Logica CMG was awarded the contract for managing the Parliament’s IT service and, if so, how this compares in percentage terms with the same period for the previous year.

Alex Johnstone: On 1 January 2008, Logica CMG took over contractual responsibility for the running of the IT Services defined by the IT Infrastructure and Support Services Contract.

  The IT Helpdesk receive calls relating to all IT services offered by the Business Information Technology Office. The total number of calls logged by the IT Helpdesk during January and February 2008 was 4,477. The total number of calls logged for the same period in 2007 was 3,574. There has been a 25% increase in the total number of calls logged by the IT helpdesk when comparing the two periods.

Information Technology

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how it monitors the performance of the Parliament’s IT contract managed by Logica CMG.

Alex Johnstone: The contract with Logica is managed under the Scottish Parliament’s Contractor Performance Management (CPM) scheme, as was the contract with the previous supplier. The CPM model used enables the Scottish Parliament and Logica to meet their obligations under the contract. Full details on the CPM process can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/corporate/procurement/cpmm.htm.

Information Technology

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body when the issues associated with lack of IT capacity, specifically the service related to remote access, will be resolved

Alex Johnstone: The remote access service offered by the SPCB to facilitate connection from locations other than the Holyrood building has recently been experiencing intermittent problems. An interim solution was brought online on Friday 7 March to alleviate the problems and it is expected that the final solution will be in place by Monday 17 March.

Information Technology

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body why the current IT service operated by Logica CMG is not a stable platform for remote users of parliamentary IT accounts and when the service will become stable and reliable.

Alex Johnstone: The remote access service offered by the SPCB to provide access to key IT systems from locations other then the Holyrood building has recently been experiencing intermittent problems. The problems have led to some users of the service being unable to log on to the Parliament network remotely, or even when logon was possible, users have experienced performance issues.

  An interim solution was brought online on Friday 7 March to alleviate the problems and it is expected that the final solution will be in place by Monday 17 March.

Information Technology

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many interns have been allocated parliamentary IT accounts in each year since 2003.

Alex Johnstone: All IT accounts created for interns are sponsored by a member and categorised on the IT systems as MSP staff. The total number of interns commencing employment at the Parliament in each year since 2003 is detailed in the table below:

  

Year
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008


Number of Interns 
53
66
102
94
61
23